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ISLAMABAD:The Senate was informed on Wednesday that the government is taking measures to address sectarian violence in the country and legislation is also being tabled in this regard.Minister of State for Interior Balighur Rehman told the House during question hour that 2,090 people have been killed in sectarian attacks since 2008. He said 173 people have been convicted in these sectarian attacks and killings.

He said 104 people were killed in Punjab in these incidents while 252 in Sindh, 22 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 737 in Balochistan, 867 in FATA, 103 in Gilgit Baltistan and five people were killed in Islamabad.

To a question, the minister said that the government is taking steps to control cybercrime in the country. He said Prevention of Cyber Crime Act has been prepared and submitted to the cabinet for approval. He said that it would be introduced in the House shortly and would address all the issues related to cybercrime.

LAHORE: At least 15 people were killed and more than 70 injured when two Taliban suicide bombers attacked churches in Lahore on Sunday, sparking mob violence in which two other suspected militants died.

The bombings occurred during prayers at two churches located around half a kilometre apart in the city's Youhanabad neighbourhood that is home to more than 100,000 Christians, officials said.

Broken window panes, blood and shoes were scattered across the blast sites.

Police spokeswoman Nabila Ghazanfar said two policemen guarding the churches were among those killed in the attacks, while two people were beaten to death by protesters who took to the streets after the blasts.

“Policemen on duty at both the entrances tried to stop them but the bombers blew themselves up,” she told AFP.

The angry mob protesting after the blast beat to death two people whom they suspected of being associates of the attackers. An AFP photographer saw the bodies of the two suspected militants on fire after the beatings. It was not clear whether they were still alive at the time.

Up to 4,000 Christians later spread across the city’s streets; many were armed with clubs as they smashed vehicles and attacked a Metro bus station in a rare show of anger by the beleaguered minority.

He said the attackers opened indiscriminate fire on people and hurled two hand grenades, before one of them blew himself up.

“There were two suicide bombers among three to four attackers. One of them blew himself up while others hurled hand grenades. We have recovered a suicide jacket during search operation,” he said while speaking to media persons at the blast scene.

Personnel of army, police and law-forcing agencies (LEAs) arrived at the scene and cordoned off the entire locality to kick a counter operation.

Reports said some of the attackers might have been inside the shiite mosque that was yet to be cleared of terrorists.

The bodies and injured were shifted to Hayatabad Medical Complex where several people are reported to be in serious condition.

Taliban gunmen launched the attack at a military-run school in the northwestern city of Peshawar with at least 135 schoolchildren killed.

The devastating attack comes as the Taliban steps up its campaign of terror in the region.

More than 135 people have been confirmed dead, with more wounded.

The Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, a sprawling and volatile city not far from the Afghan border, said the hospital has received dozens of dead and injured, including schoolchildren and teachers.

It has called for blood donations as supplies are running short.

The Pakistani armed forces say five of the six militants have been killed.

Ten year-old boy watched two classmates shot dead by Taliban

A traumatised 10-year-old boy gave a harrowing account of how he watched two classmates shot dead.

One teacher was burned alive after petrol was poured over her and her terrified pupils were forced to watch the barbaric murder.

A source told NBC: “They burnt a teacherin front of the students in a classroom. They literally set the teacher on fire with gasoline and made the kids watch.”

It was claimed a bomber blew himself up in a room of 60 children, decapitating many of them.

School boy Irfan Shah, 10, said: “Our teacher first told us a drill was going on and we need not worry. It was very intense firing. Then the sound came closer. Then we heard cries. One of our friends open the window of the class.

“He started weeping as there were several school fellows lying on the ground outside the class.

Military: Pakistani soldiers stand guard near the school following the killings

“Everybody was in panic. Two of our class fellows ran outside class in panic. They were shot in front of us.”

The teacher ordered the class of 33 to flee towards the back gate of the school.

He continued: “I tightly held the hand of my friend Daniyal and we both ran towards the back gate. We were weeping. I felt bullets passing by my head twice. It was so terrible.

“We reached back gate in a minute. As we stepped outside the gate, we started weeping again very loudly. “An aunt from a nearby house heard us and took us inside her house. We were shivering. She gave us water and comforted us. We stayed there for 15 minutes.

“Our van always parked a few hundred meters away from the school. We then went to our van. The van driver told us that our school fellows who have been murdered in the attack are martyrs and they would go to jannah (paradise).”

Violent mobs attacked Shahzad Masih and his five months pregnant wife Shama after a Muslim co-worker at the brick kiln accused them of defiling the Holy Quran

Murdered woman’s father says govt initiated FIR on its own, buried remains of the couple hastily at midnight ‘as if they were thieves’

PM orders Punjab CM to show no mercy to killers as police arrest 44 accused

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday directed Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to show no mercy to the murderers of a Christian couple accused of blasphemy in Kot Radha Kishan near Lahore, as police arrested at least 44 persons in connection with the incident which has shocked people in Pakistan and across the world.

Commanded from mosque loudspeakers, a violent Muslim mob killed the Christian couple on Tuesday after a Muslim co-worker at the brick kiln, where they both worked as bonded labourers, accused the pregnant wife of defiling the Holy Quran.

Family sources told Pakistan Today that the lives of Shama Bibi, 28, and her husband Shahzad Masih, 32, could have been saved if they had fled the kiln on Monday after the Quran desecration charges were made against them.

The couple lived and worked at a brick kiln owned by Chaudhry Yousuf Gujjar in Chak 59 village near Kot Radha Kishan, some 60 kilometres from Lahore. They had four children while Shama was five months pregnant.

MEMBERS of the Hindu community protest outside the Hyderabad Press Club on Wednesday over alleged forced conversion and marriage of a Hindu girl in Daharki a few days ago.

KARACHI: Taking refuge in the city after receiving threats by a powerful group in Daharki, the parents of a recently converted 12-year-old girl, Anjali Kumari Meghwar, met the Karachi police chief on Wednesday to speak about their daughter’s case.

Daharki, a city of Ghotki district, has been witnessing a wave of protests since Anjali was kidnapped from her home in Mustafa Abad Mohalla in broad daylight and converted within a day, according to her parents.

“Nobody listens to the poor. But to be from a lower caste on top of that, worsens the matters for our community,” said Kundan Mal Meghwar, father of the girl, while speaking to Dawn on Wednesday.

As was seen in most conversion cases in the past, the activities of the Bharchundi Shareef shrine in Daharki was once again questioned, with the parents alleging that their girl was converted and married off under the patronage of the shrine caretakers.

Soon after the incident, the caretakers came up with a statement that they had nothing to do with the kidnapping and forcible conversion of the girl. “We only facilitate their wish. We don’t impose our own will on them,” said a spokesperson for the shrine.

Kundan refused to admit that her daughter converted and married of her free will. For proof, he had with him documents issued by the National Database and Registration Authority and her school certifying that a girl had studied in there till class four, and at present, she was aged 12.

“Riaz Sial, the man Anjali was forcibly married to, is still roaming around the area and has not been arrested so far,” Kundan continued, “whereas my daughter was handed over to the police on Friday after we requested help from an influential man in the area.”